Sanitary apparatus for animal-stalls.



l. S. ELLIS. SANITARY APPARATUS FOB ANIMAL STALLS. APPucATlqN FILED MAY 29. |916.

,26 1,372. Patented Apr. 2, 1918.

'UNITED STATES FATENT FFIE.

JOHN S. ELLIS, OFSOUTH MILWAUKEE, VJISCONSIN.

SANITARY APPARATUS FOR ANIMAL-STALLS.

Application filed May 29, 1916.

To all whom, t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN S. .ELL1s,a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at the city of South Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sanitary Apparatus for Animal-Stalls, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates Vto improvements in sanitary apparatus for animal stalls.

The object of my invention is to provide means for equipping a stable with a sanitary gutter liner which may be employed in con nection with a litter carrier, the gutter liner being made in sections, Yeach of which is adapted to serve as a bucket or tray to be engaged and lifted by the carrying mechanism and transported to the dumping point after which the tray is returned, deposited in the gutter and the next succeeding tray similarly removed and dumped.

In the drawings-q Figure l is an elevation'of my improved stable equipment in connection with a stable gutter illustrated in longitudinal section, portions of two of the trays being broken away at their meeting ends to show the removable cap members.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a stable gutter with some of the trays and cap members in position. Y

Fig. 3 is a detail `view of the hanger and trip latch showing the latter in releasing position.

Like parts are identified by the same ref erence characters throughout the several Y views.

The stable gutter illustrated in the drawings, comprises a trough shaped `gutter A formed in a concrete stable floor B. C are the partition members of the respective stalls. These parts may be of any ordinary construction. The gutter is lined'with a series of trays D, comprising open boxes, the walls of which fit the walls of the gutter. The side walls of the trays, however, are provided Vwith flanges E, which overlapthe floor F of the stable on each side of the gutter. The end walls of the trays are provided with trunnions G and theiruppermargine are preferablyrolled or folded to form rounded surfaces G..

A track H extends longitudinally of the gutter and is connected with the ceiling of the stable or with any suitable overhead support by hangers H. The carrier rollers Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 2, 1918.

Serial No. 109,464.

I, hangers I, winding shaft J, actuating pulley J and chain J, together with the hoisting cables or chains K may be of any ordinary construction. 'Ihe lower ends of the chains or cables K are provided with hooks L, adapted to engage eye brackets L, carried by a rod M, which constitutes a portion of a bail adapted to be detachably cngaged with the end trunnions G on the trays. The bail is composed of the rod M and a set of hangers M and M. The hanger M is adjustable on the rod M, whereby the bail may be adapted for engagement with trays of differing lengths. A set screw N is employed to secure the hanger M on the rod M. The hanger M is preferably connected with the bracket L by a rod N and bracket L is adapted to slide for the purpose of adjustment along the rod M in connection with the adjusting movement of the hanger M, whereby the tray will automatically balance upon the flexible hoisting members K, regardless of the adjustment of the hanger M.

A latch O is pivoted at O to the hanger M and carries a hook shaped head .P which is adapted to engage over the margin of the tray. The outwardly projecting arm Q of .the latch'is the actuating arm, and when this is pushed downwardly, the latch head P will be lifted and swung across a vertical line through the pivotpin 0 until the latch arm Q strikes a stop Q carried by the hanger hf whereupon the latch will remain in the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. l until manually actuated to tray holding position.

In operation, the carrier comprising members I, I, J, J, J and K, will be moved to a position directly above one of the trays. The bail may have been previously adjusted to the hooks L or if desired, the bail may first be adjusted to the tray and then engaged with the hooks L, whereupon the hoisting chain J may be actuated to wind up the hoisting cables K and lift the tray vto a raised position, after which it may be transported along the track to the dumping point. It will of course be understood that the pulley or wheel J is provided with a controlling latch arm to prevent backward rotation. These latch arms are in common use in connection with ordinary litter carriers and therefore do not require specific description. It will also be understood that at the dumping point,the trip latch arm Q,

may strike and be actuated by a suitable guide S, which operates to depress the arm and raise the latch to releasing position. Such guides are also in common use in `connection with other forms of trip latches and therefore do not require specific description.

Owing` to the fact that the trays are provided with projecting` trunnions G, it is not possible to bring their ends into abutting contact and it is also desirable that the adjacent ends of contiguous trays should be covered in order to prevent any material from lodging between them. For this purpose I employ a set of removable caps T, each having' down turned flanges T which project downwardly into the trays as clearly shown in Fig. l. The ends of these cap members are flat surfaces and are adapted to cover portions of the stable floor between the ends el the tray flanges E. These end portions t of the cap members preferably lap upon the ends of the flanges E. The flanges t of 'the cap flanges may be formed by slitting,- the material composing the cap and bending the side margins downwardly to form flanges T of a length equal to the `.iidth of the tray. These cap flanges are removed from the respective ends of each tray preparatory to hoisting and removing the tray and are replaced after the replacement of the trays in the gutter.

I am aware that attempts have been made to provide stable gutters with removable trays, designed to be lifted and conveyed to a dumping point by means of an overhead carrier, but I believe that none of such trays have been adopted in practical use, for the reason that the gutters become partially filled between the ends of the trays and along the sides of the trays, and it was therefore necessary to clean the gutte out with a shovel in the ordinary manner after removing' the trays. I have overcome this difficulty by providing the trays with the side flanges E and employing the c: ps T to prevent material. from entering the gutter between the ends of the trays. I am thereby enabled te effectively exclude n'iaterial from the gutter, whereby the stable may be quickly and expeditiously cleaned by merely removing and dumping).T the trays. I also attach `great importance to the extensible bail composed 0f the rods M and hangers M and M. The trays beine; of considerable length, it has not heretofore been pos sible to lift and remove them by means of an ordinary carrier, since it was necessary to separate the hoisting` cables too widely for practical operation in order to engage their extremities with the ends of the trays. The specific trip latch designed by me is also m menare important. as it does not require springs to retain it in either position, and it is effective to hold the tray in the upright position when engaged over the top of the tray. This latch is preferably a forked latch and engages the tray on both sides Vof the hangers M.

I claim-- l. The combination with an overhead track and carrier for stables, of a stable gutter provided with a series of litter carrier trays, each having end trunnions for engagement with the carrier mechanism, and each being also adapted to serve as a lining for a section of the gutter, and a bail adapted to be engaged beside the carrier and having end hangers engageable and interchangeable with the trunnions on the respective trays, said hangers being longitudinally adjustable to increase or diminish the distance between them, whereby the bail may be adjusted to carrier boxes of different lengths.

2. The combination with an overhead track and carrier for stables, of a stable gutter provided with a series of litter carrier trays, each provided with end trunnions for engagement with the carrier mechanism and each being also adapted to serve as a lining for a section of the gutter, each of said trays having side flanges adapted to overlap the stable floor adjacent to the gutter, and removable members adapted to ncrmally cover the spaces between trays into which said trunnions project, said members having' flanges out from two opposing` margins thereof adapted to overlap the adjacent trays.

3. The combination with an overhead track and carrier for stables, et a stable gutter provided with a series of litter carrier trays, each provided with end trunnions for en gageinent with the carrier mechanism and each being also adapted to serve Vas a lining` for a section of thel gutter, each. of said trays having),- side flanges adapted to overlapv the stable floor adjacent to the gut-ter, and removable end cap members adapted to cover the `gaps between adjacent trays when the latter are in the gutter and having depending` portions adapted to project into the trays along theirend walls to anchor the caps in position, said caps also having` end portions adapted to cover portions of the stable floor between the ends of the tray flanges.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOI-IN S. ELLIS.

Idfitnesscs:

Iinvnnn'r'r C. VHEELER, IRMA D. Bananen.

Genie!1 of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of VPatents, Washington, lD. C.= 

